- Tesco measures to include priority shopping hour for most vulnerable March 18, 2020 at 4:42 pm Empty shelves in Tesco as a result of panic buying, due to coronavirus fears. Measures will come into force at all Tesco stores tomorrow, to cope with the pressures of the coronavirus situation.
- New slots are released every night at midnight but there are currently no home delivery or Click and Collect spaces available up to April 21. However, another 100,000 slots are due to become.
- There are currently no available Tesco’s home delivery slots for nearly another month. At the time of writing, there is no delivery available between March 26 and April 15. The supermarket has now suspended all new delivery sign-ups due to demand.
There’s no doubt that getting a shopping delivery slot has been harder than usual since the UK went into lockdown eight weeks ago.
Most supermarkets release delivery slots for the key dates just before Christmas between December 20 and December 24 in November. We've spoken to Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Waitrose.
In an attempt to take some of the stress away, Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com has compiled a list of top tips.
The list shows how far ahead each supermarket releases its slots and how you might get your hands on one, reports BirminghamLive.
The supermarket with the longest lead time appears to be Tesco with a massive 21 days, which assumes you know what you’ll want to eat three weeks in advance.
Waitrose and Morrisons release their slots just three days ahead.
So you might know what you want to eat but will you then have enough time to get your order in before all of the slots are quickly taken?
Here’s how the supermarket giants are operating according to Moneysavingexpert.
Three days ahead
Waitrose - used to be in partnership with Ocado but not any more.
So it might well be looking to expand times in due course.
For slots, it said it is 'advising customers to check each morning'.
Shoppers surveyed said they had success from 6am to 8am as well as randomly during the day.
Morrisons - shoppers top tip was to try just after midnight
Five days ahead
Co-op - told Martin Lewis that 'slots are launched every day, at around midnight'.
Seven days ahead
Iceland - the company said times were specific to stores, so Martin Lewis's 'Forumites' reported different results in tandem.
Sainsbury's - told Martin Lewis that 'when the slots are released will vary - there isn't a specific time and it doesn't depend on the store'.
One follower reported success every Monday.
Ocado - the online supermarket was a former partner with Waitrose but recently jumped into bed with M&S and is due start selling its products, as well as its own, from September.
It said there wasn't a fixed time when they were released, but priority customers were emailed about availability.
Once they've had a chance to book, non-priority customers are notified - via a message on the home page - and are then able to book any remaining slots.
14 days ahead
Asda - revealed that slots update as and when they become available in each area. Popular times to get a slot were typically 10pm or midnight, though some followers said between 2am and 4am.
21 days ahead
Tesco - Martin Lewis was told 'slots tend to be released at midnight for three weeks ahead' but that it's busy adding extra vans to create more slots.
Top tips include logging on ten minutes early and then trying to book after midnight.
What Time Do Tesco Release Priority Slots Opening
coronavirusMeasures will come into force at all Tesco stores tomorrow, to cope with the pressures of the coronavirus situation.
A message was emailed to customers today, from Tesco CEO Dave Lewis.
It states that from Thursday, March 19, stores will close at 10pm to allow re-stocking; that shoppers will be limited to three items per customer on every product line, and that it plans to introduce a priority hour for the most vulnerable, three days a week.
What Time Do Tesco Priority Christmas Slots Open
According to the email, the following changes will come into effect:
*To ensure more people have access to everyday essentials, Tesco is introducing a storewide restriction of only three items per customer on every product line, and removing multi-buy promotions.*In order to allow Tesco colleagues to focus on stocking shelves, helping to provide the essential groceries you are looking for and to avoid waste, Tesco will close all meat, fish, deli counters and salad bars.
* To be able to ensure stores are clean, that they can replenish stock, and allow their colleagues to rest, Tesco will change their trading hours with all stores closing at 10pm.
* To ensure they are doing everything possible to reduce the risk of infection for both our customers and colleagues, Tesco will be introducing some distancing measures at the checkout and, to make it swifter, invite customers who can, to pay by card.
* To help free up slots for the more vulnerable, such as elderly customers and those who are self-isolating, Tesco is encouraging customers who shop online or choose Click+Collect for their grocery home shopping, to prioritise shopping in-store where possible.
* To ensure more vulnerable and elderly customers can shop in-store, Tesco will prioritise one hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning between 9-10am (except in Express stores), and asks that people respect this.
Mr Lewis added: “Tesco store colleagues can’t work from home, and a good number of them will need to respond to personal or family challenges connected with dealing with COVID-19. So we would please ask that you understand the challenging environment in which we are all working. If you do go in-store and want to say thank you, then I’m sure they’d appreciate it.
“So, if you could help us by limiting demand of essential items, and allowing us to focus on the core needs of our customers — we are confident that we can continue to feed the nation. We are delivering food daily to our stores, but this is a very challenging time and we will only get through this if we work together.”